You Got Some “Splainin'” To Do Lisa!

Lake Worth resident and community volunteer Lisa Maxwell will announce her campaign for Lake Worth City Commission at the Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association Community Walk on May 16th at 4:00 P.M.

She is encouraging supporters to gather on bikes or on foot at Compass on Dixie Highway and 2nd Avenue where she will declare her candidacy. Ms. Maxwell is dedicated to providing great municipal services to all of our neighborhoods, ensuring that the needs and resources of the City are provided to each and every community in an equitable fashion.

At the event, Maxwell will announce her campaign’s web site http://www.Lisamaxwell.org, and its use of Twitter (as “Lisa Maxwell”) and presence on Face book. She will be accompanied by her dog Libby (7 years old).

At 4:00PM the Compass Center was closed as it is every Sunday according to the sign on the door. The small crowd who gathered consisted of just a few people, including Jack Simons, Mary Lindsey, Christopher Summa, Shannon Brown, Vince Rogers, Carolyn Deli and Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association vice president Silvia Williams. TRNA president Ryan Anderson and secretary/treasurer and Jessica Plotkin were absent.

When Tom’s Page asked Candidate Maxwell when the announcement would take place she replied that there was a “problem with the hosts” and the announcement was originally going to take place at the end of the walk at a different location.

The rest of the small crowd decided to start the walk and we decided to tag along, or at least we tried to tag along. Carolyn Deli and Silvia Williams told Tom’s Page and Christopher Summa (who also had a camera) that we were not welcome and could not come on the walk. When asked why, they stated that we were bloggers and had never attended a walk before and we were only there due to Candidate Maxwell’s presence. They went on to say that an e-mail had been circulating that caused a lot of people to stay away from the walk. At this point Deli and Williams made inference that Candidate Maxwell was not welcome to join the group on the walk either due to the commotion caused by the e-mail .

TRNA resident Shannon Brown then said she would take Maxwell on a walk around the neighborhood and they left together. Past TRNA president Vince Rogers spoke with Christopher Summa and they decided to walk together.

Around then a PBSO Deputy arrived asking where the “crime walk” was and joined the group.

Tom’s Page was asked not to join the walk and decided to go home.

We have learned that the E-mail that was circulated questioned the use of the TRNA walk as a suitable venue for Maxwell’s announcement, citing the TRNA bylaws regarding any political involvement. The e-mail also questioned holding the campaign announcement at Compass due to its “non-political / not for profit” status.

Christopher Summa let Tom’s Page know that the walk ended just before 5:00 and Vince Rodgers told him, “There’s a war going on in this neighborhood, and the other side just won a little battle”.

There appears to be a lot of “‘splainin’” to be done here.

Oh yes, Libby was nowhere to be seen.

Edit: In the original post Jessica Plotkin’s and Silvia Williams’ positions on the TRNA board were incorrectly stated and have been corrected.

4 Comments on “You Got Some “Splainin'” To Do Lisa!”

Jessica Plotkin gave permission to post this e-mail to me as a comment:

Tom,

Tropical Ridge Neighborhood Association is a non-political organization that does not favor any one candidate over another. Anyone in the community, candidate or not, is welcome to join the walks and meet our neighbors. None of the Board Members had any clue about a press release or that Ms. Maxwell intended to announce her candidacy. In fact, we believed she had announced several weeks ago. Past candidates have joined Association events in an effort to learn more about their community. I can certianly understand why some residents would be uncomfortable with photographers and local bloggers covering a routine Association activity. Community walks are a chance to meet the residents and talk about some of the challenges our neighborhood faces.

Any members of the Association are free to support whichever candidate they choose, we simply ask that they keep it out of Association events.

By the way, Ryan is President, Sylvia is Vice-President and I am Secretary/Treasurer.